Americans United - Steve Ortegahttps://www.au.org/tags/steve-ortega
enWest Texas Saga: Federal Court Rejects Latest Effort To Bless Church Politicking In Lone Star Statehttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/west-texas-saga-federal-court-rejects-latest-effort-to-bless-church
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">A federal court rejects church politicking in Texas. </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>A recent <a href="http://religionclause.blogspot.com/2012/07/churchs-suit-over-texas-law-on-recall.html">ruling</a> from a federal court in Texas about churches and politics has been overlooked – but it shouldn’t be.</p><p>Regular readers of this blog might recall a flap that erupted in El Paso after the city approved an ordinance extending health-care benefits to domestic partners. Pastors at some local fundamentalist churches went bonkers and announced plans to recall Mayor John Cook and El Paso City Council Members Steve Ortega and Susie Byrd.</p><p>Pastor Tom Brown of Word of Life Church took the lead on the matter, assisted by a front group called El Pasoans for Traditional Family Values. But in doing so, Brown's church ran afoul of Texas law, which prohibits corporations (a designation that includes houses of worship) from making contributions in connection with recall elections.</p><p>A state appeals court <a href="http://www.au.org/church-state/april-2012-church-state/people-events/el-paso-church%E2%80%99s-recall-effort-violated-election">subsequently ruled</a> that the recall election could not go forward since many of the signatures on the recall petitions were collected in violation of the law.</p><p>Around the same time, a crony of Brown’s named H. Warren Hoyt, pastor of Jesus Chapel, sued Cook, the city of El Paso and other local and state officials arguing that the Texas law had a “chilling effect” on his right to get involved in politics. In court, Hoyt was represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a Religious Right legal group formerly known as the Alliance Defense Fund.</p><p>A federal court has tossed the case, arguing it “fails for a number of reasons.”</p><p>U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone held that Hoyt’s church hadn’t actually circulated any recall petitions and thus its entire case was built on speculation about what might happen if it did. In fact, Cardone said, the church would have run afoul of the law only if it engaged in activities that amounted to making a contribution to a political campaign.</p><p>Cardone also noted in her <em>Hoyt v. The City of El Paso</em> ruling that some of the people and entities named in the lawsuit, such as Cook and the city of El Paso, don’t even have the power to enforce a state law.</p><p>The ADF’s claim that the Texas statute violated the church’s First Amendment right was not persuasive. Cardone held that the court “does not have before it a justiciable case or controversy.”</p><p>The situation in El Paso was an especially egregious example of a church jumping head first into electoral politics. The recall effort against Cook, Byrd and Ortega was anchored in Brown’s church. The church conceived, organized and ran the campaign.</p><p>This matter first came to Americans United’s attention in July of 2011. At that time, we <a href="http://www.au.org/church-state/september-2011-church-state/people-events/au-urges-irs-to-investigate-el-paso-ministry">sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service</a> asking the federal tax agency to look into the matter. It’s unclear if the IRS acted because such investigations are conducted outside of the public spotlight.</p><p>But the story did hit the media, and that led a resident of El Paso to draw Americans United’s attention to the Texas law. We then forwarded our IRS complaint to state officials, who apparently shared it with local officials. We’re pleased that our efforts helped block a rather audacious attempt at church politicking.</p><p>I wish it always worked out that way. </p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/religious-groups%E2%80%99-involvement-in-candidate-elections">Religious Groups’ Involvement in Candidate Elections</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/el-paso">El Paso</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/el-pasoans-for-trad%C2%ADi%C2%ADtional-family-values">El Pasoans for Trad­i­tional Family Values</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/tom-brown">Tom Brown</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/john-cook">John Cook</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/susie-byrd">Susie Byrd</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/steve-ortega">Steve Ortega</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/alliance-defending-freedom">Alliance Defending Freedom</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/h-warren-hoyt">H. Warren Hoyt</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/kathleen-cardone">Kathleen Cardone</a></span></div></div>Tue, 31 Jul 2012 14:40:07 +0000Rob Boston7402 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/west-texas-saga-federal-court-rejects-latest-effort-to-bless-church#commentsTexas Toast: El Paso Church Loses Legal Case Over Political Interventionhttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/texas-toast-el-paso-church-loses-legal-case-over-political-intervention
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">A heap of trouble for a political pastor in Texas. </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>An El Paso church’s brazen effort to remove the mayor and two members of the city council has been brought to a screeching halt.</p><p>The political drama in the west Texas town started last summer when Pastor Tom Brown of Word of Life Church issued a politically charged email to the community. Brown, who sent the email under the guise of his Tom Brown Ministries, attacked El Paso Mayor John Cook and El Paso City Council Members Steve Ortega and Susie Byrd because the three voted to extend health-care benefits to domestic partners.</p><p>Brown then joined forces with a group called El Pasoans for Trad­i­tional Family Values (EPFTFV) and announced he would recall Cook, Ortega and Byrd. His ministry’s website posted an “Open Letter to City Council” that said in part, “If you are up­set at this action and would like to sign and/or circulate a recall petition against Mayor John Cook and Rep­resen­tatives Susie Byrd and Steve Or­tega, then fill out the form below. Share this page with your friends and get them to fill out the form. Thanks.”</p><p>Brown’s church and ministry essentially organized and coordinated the recall campaign, taking the lead role in circulating petitions. The church gathered enough signatures to put the matter on the ballot, but Brown overlooked one thing: Texas election laws prohibit corporations (which includes non-profit groups) from intervening in elections.</p><p>County Court Judge Javier Alvarez had earlier ruled that the church and EPFTFV had broken the law, but he refused to stop the election, arguing it would thwart the will of the people.</p><p>The Texas 8th Court of Appeals <a href="http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_19993098">was not impressed</a> with this curious logic. Ruling unanimously, the court slammed Alvarez and made it clear that the state’s laws must be enforced.</p><p>“Despite having viewed the evidence in the light most favorable to the trial court’s order and indulging every reasonable inference in its favor, we find the trial court’s order denying injunctive relief is so arbitrary as to exceed the bounds of reasonable discretion,” wrote the judges.</p><p>The appeals court added, “It is essential to the independence of the judiciary and public confidence in the judicial process that a judge be faithful to the law and not be swayed by public clamor or fear of criticism. It is significant, we think, that the trial court lost sight of the fact that a proper application of the law to the facts in this case does not act to bar voters from properly exercising their right to seek a recall of elected office holders, provided that such right is exercised in accordance with the provisions of the Election Code.”</p><p>The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a Religious Right legal organization founded by television and radio preachers in the early 1990s, jumped into the case on behalf of Brown’s church. Joel Oster, the ADF attorney who handled the lawsuit, didn’t comment after the ruling came down, and the two local attorneys who worked on it, Theresa Caballero and Stuart Leeds, hung up on an <em>El Paso Times</em> reporter who called asking for comment.</p><p>The bombastic Brown attacked the appeals court and is vowing to appeal to the Texas Supreme Court, but Mark Walker, Cook’s attorney, thinks it’s unlikely that the state high court will hear the matter. Walker noted that the Texas Supreme Court usually hears cases only if the lower court was split or if lower courts have issued conflicting rulings on a legal question.</p><p>“My analysis is it can’t be appealed to the Texas Supreme Court,” Walker told the <em>Times</em>. He called the ruling “a victory for the rule of law.”</p><p>Brown’s troubles may not be over. He could get <a href="http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_19992310?source=pkg">slapped with a bill</a> for Cook’s legal fees, which have topped a quarter of a million dollars. Furthermore, violations of the Texas election law can result in criminal penalties. Jaime Esparza, the local district attorney, is investigating that aspect of things.</p><p>Finally, Americans United last year asked the Internal Revenue Service <a href="http://www.au.org/church-state/september-2011-church-state/people-events/au-urges-irs-to-investigate-el-paso-ministry">to investigate</a> Brown’s partisan political activities and, if he is found in violation of the law, to revoke his ministry’s tax-exempt status.</p><p>It sounds like Brown has stepped into quite a tar pit. Maybe all of this political intervention by a church might not have been a good idea after all.</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/religious-groups%E2%80%99-involvement-in-candidate-elections">Religious Groups’ Involvement in Candidate Elections</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/el-paso">El Paso</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/tom-brown">Tom Brown</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/john-cook">John Cook</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/mark-walker">Mark Walker</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/steve-ortega">Steve Ortega</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/susie-byrd">Susie Byrd</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/el-pasoans-for-trad%C2%ADi%C2%ADtional-family-values">El Pasoans for Trad­i­tional Family Values</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/joel-oster">Joel Oster</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/alliance-defense-fund">Alliance Defense Fund</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Location:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/our-work/grassroots/el-paso">El Paso</a></span></div></div>Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:06:33 +0000Rob Boston6790 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/texas-toast-el-paso-church-loses-legal-case-over-political-intervention#comments